Translator: Silver Editor: Namorax
⌈Strategic oblivion⌋
It was about thirty minutes before the supposed princess’ group was able to get the carriage going in the eastern direction, and before long their figures had shrunken into the distance.
I cast aside the branches I had been using to conceal my head.
Based on the audible snoring, Ponta seemed to be taking a nap atop of my helmet.
Standing up slowly as not wake her, I let out a deep sigh in order to calm my heart.
Despite that, I could not shake my cold sweat and my gaze swims when I looked in the direction of the carriage.
What I thought was a simple noble girl was actually a member of some royal family. I revived them with magic and it was taken as a miracle of the gods.
When I became calm enough to think, I realized that resurrection was a highly sought after magic, hell even a pair of brothers searched after the philosopher’s stone in order to obtain it.
A human would usually be brought back as an undead and given that there were no noticeable side effects, they weren’t necessarily crazy in their beliefs.
But the opaque conditions means that I can’t simply bring anyone back to life.
The strain I felt casting the magic also has to be considered.
Although revival and recovery magic were commonplace in games, if I overdid it here I’d probably be recognized as a saint or something. No, if handled incorrectly it could result in the formation of a new religion. Then there’d be the possibility of the new religion starting a holy war that engulfs the whole world.
It would be different if it was a village girl or a small noble’s daughter that was resurrected after an accident, but the situation was a hundred time worse since it was a murdered princess that had been revived.
One thing is certain…… history has forever been altered.
───No, in an era like this, royalty will surely have a lot of princesses, so history shouldn’t be affected too much, ……I think.
In addition, since there were no witnesses I should be safe── still it’s probably for the best that I avoid using revival magic a much as I possibly can.
Inside of my brain, a national assembly was rallying for the dismissal of addressing this issue.
“Hmm. Nothing happened.”
The motion won with an overwhelming majority and within a moment, the problem was tossed into oblivion.
While not jostling Ponta I turned around and headed back the way that had came.
A good amount of time has passed since left Ariane back in the forest. Following the markers I left behind, I used 【Dimensional Step】to dash through the forest.
Before long, I came across three large white wolves that were tied up by their hind legs and hanging from a tree branch with their head pointed at the ground.
At the base of the tree from which the wolves hung, sat a dark elf woman that seemed to be sulking a little.
She sat with her knees up causing her twin peaks to be pushed out more than usual; I thought that she looked happy upon seeing me, but she returned to sulking a moment later.
“OI! Where have you been?”
“Uh, sorry. I got a little lost along the way.”
I pushed the undergrowth aside and apologize to her before making my way over to the tree with the wolves.
“The blood has finished draining from these…… Please take us to Raratoia.”
“Ah, that’s right! I was supposed to be looking for a suitable transfer location……”
I had forgotten that Ariane had asked for us to temporarily return to Raratoia and that that was the reason I had left in the first place.
At my statement, she began to cross-examine me with a stunned expression, as if she simply couldn’t believe such a thing.
Her criticism was understandable, I went out to find a proper location marker about an hour ago.
“Wait, I haven’t finished…… I forget my purpose because I was preoccupied with returning. This time, I’ll look for a proper location marker.”
While defending myself, I shifted my attention to the Annette mountain that peeked above the trees, to quickly inform her of my next aim.
Entrusting her with the still sleeping Ponta, I forcefully dashed through the forest with 【Dimensional step】.
Hoping that her troubled heart would be healed by Ponta’s sleeping face, I started looking for a site that could be used for 【Transfer Gate】.
Ten minutes later I found myself in a large field.
At the center of the field was a solitary large tree surrounded by bushes.
Despite being located in the middle of a forest, this was rather impressive scenery.
I glanced at the towering tree and noticed that I was the only person here to witness the flowers blooming.
It was similar to those found in Japan, and if this had been my former world then it would’ve been surrounded by a Shinto straw festoon, no doubt about that.
“Hmm, there doesn’t seem to be a problem here.”
While muttering to myself in the forest, I burnt this mysterious place into my memory. Fortunately, it was not that hard to do thanks to this scenery being so impressive and I quickly set off.
From the clouded sky above, the forest raindrops slowly began to fall.
After we transfer to Raratoia, our trek through the forest might be impeded by the weather.
I used 【Dimensional Step】to return to the place where I left Ariane and Ponta and proceeded to walked out of the thicket.
Only to catch sight of Ariane burying her face in Ponta’s belly fur.
“Ponta-chan, your stomach so soft～♪”
“Kyan☆ Kyan☆”
Ariane was speaking to the the surprisingly ticklish Ponta in a coaxing voice that was unusual for her, and both appeared to be having fun. I watched this scene play out in silence for a while before Ariane finally noticed my presence.
“A-Arc! Y-You’re back early! Did you find a location marker?!”
Even from this distance I could see that her lilac cheeks were dyed red and not only did she stutter, her voice even cracked towards the end.
However, despite seeing her usually awe-inspiring figure caught off guard, I strived to answer her as calmly as I could.
“Um, there’s a place just up ahead. After taking the Haunting Wolves back to Raratoia, our continued travel will depend on the weather.”
“T-That’s right. Thanks to your transfer magic we won’t have to traverse the forest during bad weather.”
Ariane cleared her throat in order to rearrange her emotions and gave me an affirmative nod.
Ariane used spirit magic to cover up the simple ditch that had been used to collect the Haunting Wolves’ blood.
The wolves were then cut down from the tree, and I help Ariane neatly arrange them.
Although they were slightly lighter thanks to the blood being drained, Ariane must possess considerable strength to be able to lift the corpses of the two meters long wolves.
Ponta sniffed at the Haunting Wolves before retreating behind my legs and peeking out at them.
“Well, let’s transfer to Raratoia. Ponta, I’ll rub your belly later.”
“Kyun!”
For some reason, Ariane gave me the cold shoulder when I said that.
She folder her arms and averted her gaze; even her cheeks puffed out.
There seems to have been a failure in communication. Wait, I was half successful judging by the Ponta’s joyful expression.
Ponta hopped to her usual location as I prepared to cast the magic.
“【Transfer Gate】!”
Since all of us, as well as the Haunting Wolves, would have to be transferred, I gave a little shout as I cast the spell.
Suddenly the usual pale three-meter wide magic formation expanded out to four meters as the spell activated.
The surroundings went black for an instant as the forest landscape changed to the one in front of the mansion that I stayed in a few days ago.
When I glanced down at my feet, I saw that the Haunting Wolves that had been laid on the ground had properly transferred.
Shouting when I cast 【Transfer Gate】seemed to increase the size of the magic formation; something that’ll be helpful whenever I have to transfer large loads.
However, I’ll need to practice my power output in the future.
“It’s already began to rain here.”
Just as Ariane said, the rain that was on the verge of beginning in the forest was already pouring down quite hard over here.
Standing outside in this rain, I could hear the sound of a suikinkutsu ringing out.
“Since I have to go get some help for carrying and dismantling these things, you can wait in the house, Arc.”
Without waiting to hear my reply, she ran off to a congregation of houses in the village.
I see her back as she left before staring down at the animals at my feet.
The tails that were normal looking in the forest were now shining the pale blue color that was the supposed characteristic of the Haunting Wolves.
Watching the tails under the dark and cloudy sky made them seem more mysterious.
The fabric made from them would certainly make for a good gift.
While I thought about such things, Ponta began to shake out her fur that had been soaking in water all this time.
“Oh, sorry. I should probably let you inside after all.”
After knocking on the mansion’s door, a response came from inside as Glenys curiously opened the door.
“Oh? You’re back early.”
“Well, Ariane-dono obtained an item for her older sister’s wedding. So we came back to drop it off here.”
While explaining the situation to Glenys, I looked back at the Haunting Wolves in the garden and her eyes followed along.
“Oh, the excellent Haunting Wolf. Furthermore, there are three of them.”
Glenys admired the Haunting Wolves that were laid out in the garden while I looked up as the rain began heavier.
“Please come inside. Did Ariane go and ask the hunters for help?”
“It’s as you said.”
I entered the mansion I left the other day, and she guided me to the dining room on the second floor to serve tea.
I took off my helmet and began sipping tea. It was taken without any sugar, and its taste was similar to black tea.
In the next seat, Ponta was desperately trying to fix her wet fur.
I drunk my tea while watching her, and by the time I reached my third cup Ponta had begun to doze off.
“It’s rather late for this child. Since it’s raining outside, why don’t you stay here tonight.”
As she said, the rain has begun to fall in earnest as raindrops tapped against the dining room’s window, and despite it only being about eight o’clock it was already dark outside.
It might take some time before Ariane returned with the hunters to take care of the Haunting Wolves.
Since we came back to Ariane’s parent’s house, it’d be a good opportunity to accomplish one of my objectives.
With my determination alight, I call out to Glenys.
“Glenys-dono. This place has a bath in it right, so would it be alright if I used it? Of course, I’ll pay the price of boiling the water.”
“The bath? I don’t particularly mind. But there’s not really a price for it…… go ahead? Are you alright?”
She replied to my heartfelt plea for a bath with her head tilted to the side in confusion.
“Putting aside the fact that you are a skeleton and lack the need for warmth, how about bathing together with Ponta?”
“Hmm. I supposed it would be good to wash Ponta every once in awhile.”
I carry the sleeping Ponta as Glenys lead me to the bathroom on the first floor, that was invisible from the mansion’s front door.
Water was drawn from the river and stored in a container so that it could be heated by the bath furnace housed beneath the wooden tub. Apparently the furnace was a modern magic tool that used magic stones as fuel.
Only members of noble families seem to have access to the magic tool and water containers.
I entered the familiar looking bath with Ponta, and we stayed in the bath till my bones were warmed to the core and Ariane had returned.
Wearing the traditional garbs of the elves with Ponta on my skull and a towel over my shoulder, I went back to meet the returning Ariane in style.
“You seemed rather relaxed…… did something good happen to your boney body?”
“Yes! Baths are the refreshments of life!”
My answer was full of smiles; unfortunately I lacked the facial muscles to express my joy, so she simply replied with a tired “That’s good”.